Dundalk have been finding their return to the Europa League group stages tough going, losing all three of their matches so far. They are at least scoring goals, but in coming up against Rapid Vienna they’re facing a side full of them.
The Austrians have netted five in their three Europa League matches so far, and 21 in eight Bundesliga matches. Can the Irish side finally pick up three points here? We’ve gone through the stats and trends to find the three best bets for this Group B match (8pm).
Both Teams to Score & No Draw
As mentioned in the intro, Dundalk are finding life in the Europa League tough and they’re not in the best of form of late either. They’ve won just one of their last five, drawing one and losing three. Their home form isn’t good either, winning one, drawing two and losing two.
These Europa League matches are being played at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin rather than their home stadium in Dundalk. It is totally pointless since fans cannot attend anyway.
Their ‘home’ scoring record in Europe is decent though, as they’ve netted in all four of their most recent home matches. Rapid are one of the highest-scoring teams in the competition and it’s why the prices on the various Overs markets are so low. What is important for this bet though is that they’re conceding plenty as well – 10 over their five away matches and seven over their last four in European competitions.
There’s not much value to be had in a straight Both Teams to Score bet here but a BTTS No Draw bet looks far better. This just means that both teams will score and the match won’t end in a draw.
Christoph Knasmullner to score anytime
Taxiarchis Fountas and his team-mate Ercan Kara are the favourites here to score anytime. Fountas has four goals in five league matches, three in one cup match and one in his single Europa League appearance so far as well.
Kara has four in eight in the league, two in two in the cup but none in Europe. They’re decent stats but neither of them has scored a goal for Rapid since October.
Most of the goals have been coming from their midfield playmaker Christoph Knasmullner of late, who has four in five for the away side. With their front players suffering a goal drought he has stepped up and found form at the perfect time.
For a player in such good form and a clear eye for goal we’re getting nice odds on Knasmullner to find the back of the net during the 90 minutes.
Correct Score Combinations, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4
While most of us here at PP would love to see Dundalk doing well and going far in the competition they got pretty unlucky in the draw and ended up in one of the toughest groups. While they’ve enjoyed good periods of play over their three matches so far and scored a few goals they just don’t have enough against the better European sides.
Add this to them having to endure a bad run in the Premier Division as well and Rapid could make this a night to forget in Tallaght. Then again, it’s Tallaght, where most nights are nights you want to forget. Anyway, putting aside this writer’s anti-Dublin bias, Dundalk just don’t have it at this level and while they’re certainly good enough for a goal Rapid are in fine goal-scoring form, in better overall form as well and should take the three points here.
*All odds in copy correct at time of publication and they’re always bang on with our clever betting banners.
Dundalk v Rapid Vienna tips
Both Teams to Score & No Draw
Christoph Knasmullner to score anytime
Correct Score Combinations, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4
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